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Sally Avril (Earth-616)
| Citizenship = American | MaritalStatus = Single | Occupation = High School Student, Amateur Photographer | Education = | Origin = Human | PlaceOfBirth = Forest Hills, Queens, New York | Creators = Stan Lee; Steve Ditko; Kurt Busiek; Pat Olliffe; | First = Amazing Fantasy #15 | First2 = (as Sally) (as Bluebird) | Death = Untold Tales of Spider-Man #13 | HistoryText = Sally Avril was part of a group of kids in Queens, New York, consisting of Liz Allan, Tiny McKeever, Seymour O'Reilly, Jason Ionello and Peter Parker who were friends since Elementary School. But by the time they arrived at Midtown High School, Peter had drifted apart and the clique was taken over by new student Flash Thompson. From that point, Sally wanted nothing to do with Peter, shooting him down when he asked for a date in favor of "dream boats like Flash Thompson" and coaxing Liz away from Peter rather than offer sympathy after the death of his Uncle Ben. Always craving excitement and fame, Sally got her kicks by being an accomplished, blue ribbon winning High School gymnast. Always willing to appreciate a practical joke for the excitement it would bring, Sally was the only member of the group who approved of Jason's prank of stealing Peter Parker's clothes from his gym locker. Convinced that the others disapproved of this theft because it wasn't concocted by Flash, Jason came up with a new scheme and invited only Sally to join him. The Daily Bugle has previously offered one thousand dollars to anyone who could discover Spider-Man's true identity. Jason and Sally planned to be the ones to win that money. Prowling the city at night with a pair of binoculars, Sally and Jason came upon a meeting between Spider-Man and Batwing. By this time, most of the enthusiasm for the project rested with Sally. While Jason worried about the safety of the part of town they were in, Sally reveled in the excitement. This difference of opinion was only expanded when Spider-Man discovered them and warned them off the hunt; but while webbing Jason's feet to the floor, Spidey merely gave Sally an affectionate pat on the cheek. Still trailing Spider-Man, Sally and Jason witnessed the wall-crawler committing a robbery unaware that he had inadvertently been brainwashed by Dr. Winkler who was working for Electro. At the villains' hideout, Sally snapped a picture just as Electro prepared to unmask the hypnotized Spider-Man. The flash bulb woke the web-slinger from his trance but he was still on the verge of being defeated by Electro when Sally staggered the villain with a kick to the head; setting him up for defeat by a punch from Spider-Man. The wall-crawler showed his gratitude by taking a picture of Sally and Jason standing over the unconscious Electro. It appeared on the front page of the Bugle with the headline "School Kids Foil Super-Villain". This success got Sally thinking that she could take pictures of Spider-Man for the Bugle but when she arrived at the newspaper offices, she found Peter Parker there and learned that he was already doing what she had planned to do. Peter asked Sally not to tell the other kids . So, Sally changed her plans and decided to become a super-hero. Enlisting the help of Jason's engineer father for weapons and equipment, Sally donned a white, blue and black costume with a blonde wig and became the Bluebird. She showed up at Peter's house and asked him to take action photos of her. When Peter refused, Sally blackmailed him by threatening to reveal his Spidey photography to the rest of the gang which forced Peter to reveal it himself at school. Stymied, Sally decided to become Spider-Man's partner, horning in on his fight with Electro and the Eel. Her new weapon, the Ether Egg, failed when she threw it at Electro because ether evaporated too quickly and even as Spidey defeated the villains, Sally's overenthusiastic coup de grace allowed them to escape . Undeterred by her mistakes and encouraged by her newfound fame when Liz Allan asked for her autograph, Bluebird joined Spider-Man's battle with the Scarlet Beetle, bringing Jason along as her personal photographer. She found herself in constant danger but was bailed out by Spider-Man who used one of her Ether Eggs to stop the Scarlet Beetle by throwing it into his mouth . Now realizing that Sally felt invulnerable because she was so sure Spidey would rescue her, the web-spinner decided to do nothing in their fight against the Black Knight's thugs. As a result, Bluebird was quickly punched into helplessness. Spidey layed it on thick, telling Sally she was in over her head and convinced her to quit being Bluebird. But this only boosted her desire to succeed in her previous plan to take action photographs for the Bugle. When Spider-Man took on the Black Knight, Sally talked Jason into driving her to the scene, urging him to drive recklessly. When she convinced Jason to run a red light, an oncoming bus hit their car. Jason escapes with only a mild concussion but Sally was killed in the wreck . Spidey blamed himself, believing that she would still be alive if he had let her continue as Bluebird until talked out of it by the Human Torch. "She'll never laugh again," he told the Torch, "She'll never toss her head the way she did, instantly dismissing whatever she didn't want to think about in favor of something new. She'll never smile, never capture everyone's attention with a few words, never light up a room with her determination and humor. She could be obnoxious, even pushy, but she was vital and alive and fun to be around and now she's gone." A second Bluebird later showed up but who has no connection to Sally. | Powers = | Abilities = Sally was an accomplished gymnast. | Strength = Sally Avril possessed the normal human strength for a female her age, height, and build who engaged in moderate, regular exercise. | Weaknesses = | Equipment = * Retracting Rope Line * Insulated Boots * Ether Eggs * Paint Pellets | Transportation = | Weapons = | Notes = *One of the apparently "new" characters, Sally Avril (Bluebird), actually originally appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15, where she is called just "Sally". Busiek and Olliffe took the briefly referenced character, who had not appeared again after Amazing Fantasy #15, and developed her into one of the main supporting players in Untold Tales. She first appeared as Bluebird in . | Trivia = | Links = *Amazing Fantasy #15 - First Appearance *Untold Tales of Spider-Man #11 - First Appearance as Bluebird *Untold Tales of Spider-Man #13 - Died in an automobile accident! * SpiderFan.org * Spiderfan.org }} Category:Gymnasts Category:Midtown High School Student Category:Death by accident Category:New U Experiment Category:Cellular Degeneration Category:Formerly Deceased